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Filed under: Fun, Internet, Web services, Social Software, Web

Omegle lets you have unfulfilling chats with strangers

OmegleThere was a time, long ago, when chatting with strangers was one of the more impressive things you could do online. Things have changed since the days of 14.4 baud modems ... or have they?

Now, rather than using IRC to meet new friends that you can actually stay in contact with if you so choose, a recently released site called Omegle created by an 18 year-old high school senior named Leif K-Brooks offers the opportunity to chat with anonymous random strangers.

Given the general level of discourse online, and how much it improves when people have a shroud of anonymity, it should come as no surprise that chats on Omegle rarely turn out to be fulfilling experiences. Omegle is plagued by spammers and trolls, and though K-Brooks claims he is taking the issue seriously and attempting to do something about it, a perusal through his first-and-only blog post's comments shows that he has a long, long way to go.

Still, there's something mildly compelling about Omegle. If you have sensitive sensibilities, you're probably best to steer clear until some level of control is exerted over user behavior, but if you're immune to the ugliest your online brethren have to offer, have at it.

[via Switched]

Filed under: Internet, News, Yahoo!, Social Software

What's a troll to do now? Yahoo! News Message Boards taken offline

Yahoo! NewsOne aspect of the Yahoo! experience that always left me shaking my head is the News Message Boards. Easily accessible from a "Discuss" link at the bottom of news stories, it was the stomping grounds of trolls and other hate mongers with little to no social value, unless of course you are a troll.

But now I say, "Hallelujah!" Break out the bubbly and do a little jig on the table because the powers that be at Yahoo! News have shut down the News Message Boards. The "Discuss" link has been replaced with a link labeled, "What happened to the "Discuss" option?" The message at the other end of that link takes you to a short explanation of how the boards were dominated by a few, links were difficult to embed and something bigger and better is soon to replace the old board system: "Over the next few months, we plan to offer new discussion forums based on topics in the news and incorporating the latest features to foster a better discussion for all of our readers."

Will it be an implementation of the new Yahoo! Message Board system or something digg/Netscape-like? Will it combine Yahoo! 360 blogging platform to be more like Newsvine? We'll have to wait and see.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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